Hidden
by Marauder by Midnight
Summary: Luna Lovegood, fresh out of Hogwarts, is assigned her first article abroad in rural England for the Quibbler. However, she encounters a strange story in this small town. Soon, she finds herself entangled in a web and race to save the life of a former Deat
1. Arrival

**Hidden**  
Chapter 1 - Arrival

Cocking her head to one side, she listened absentmindedly to the man's wild ramblings about the snarshlucks. Or was it the Horned Screwzits? She sighed, brushing her blonde hair back from her eyes and leaning forward on her elbows. The bearded man, believing his young listener was enraptured, grinned toothlessly and waved his arms around more zealously than before.

For a moment, Luna grimaced at her surroundings. Raunchy, drunk wizards downed tankards of beer and whiskey, shouting at each other as they did so. Their lopsided grins, illuminated barely by the flickering torches on the wall, reminded Luna of the wicked smiles carved into pumpkins around Hallow's Eve. Some less alcohol-tolerant wizards lay sprawled across the dark staircase that led to dingy rooms where Luna herself was staying. 

Despite the grubby tavern and its less-than-satisfactory living conditions, Luna Lovegood reveled in her first assignment abroad for the _Quibbler_ and her father. Finally deemed learned enough to venture out on her own, Luna had embraced the topic others would've turned their noses at. For the past three days, Luna diligently gathered accounts of various new beasts in this forsaken town for the new _Quibbler_ special edition issue from individuals Luna could only describe as "shady."

"Eh, how 'bout another Firewhiskey there, Antiqus?" Luna's interviewee bellowed toward the bar.

Luna blinked as the old bartender hobbled over to oblige the toothless drunk seated across her. She bit back her cry of disgust as she watched the man down another tankard, satiating the thirst his words had caused him and indifferent to the foam trickling down his already scraggly beard. As Antiqus continued to refill the cup, the bearded man gave Luna a wink.

"So, yeh here for any other stories mayhap?"

Luna smiled warily and gave him her trained response. "Only for stories interesting and true," she replied, reciting the line her father had taught her to say for "headline-mongerers."

"'ell, you came to the right man then! Famos 'ere got a belly-full of stories for yeh!" Luna chuckled nervously as the man leaned toward her to whisper, "Bet yeh haven't heard about the golden-haired Muggle who lives just in those mountains over yonder," pointing toward the horizon. Luna caught sight of the majestic peaks outlined by the setting sun, coloured a royal purple.

"A Muggle, say you?" Luna was unimpressed. Muggles lived all over the area, often preferring the quiet of the countryside to the cacophony and chaos city life brought. Surreptitiously, she signaled for Antiqus, who was lingering beside their table, to bring her the bill. Unsurprisingly, Antiqus paid no heed to his lone female customer as his eyes narrowed at the story Famos was telling.

"Aye a Muggle! And not just a regular Muggle! But a magical Muggle." The man hiccupped as he wiped his beard with a dirt-covered hand.

This time, Luna rolled her eyes openly. There was a limit to what lunacy she would stand for, and this certainly crossed the line. "Sir, there are no such things as magical Muggles. People are either Muggles or wizards. Now really, Antiqus, bring me my-"

"This Muggle can see this 'ere village," the drunkard droned on as if Luna never interrupted, "yet he can't perform any spells. No education in the wizarding ways, this man!"

Luna paused. "A Muggle who can see a wizarding village? That _is_ interesting indeed. Well, sir, I promise you we will look into this, but-"

"Oye, Antiqus, fellow! Bring me another tankard!"

Antiqus, jolted from his thoughts by the booming voice of Famos, hurried away to refill the tankard.

Luna cleared her throat, getting more and more irritated. "I promise we'll look into this, Famos, but I'll need to talk to my father before deciding anything." She stood up, ready for bed and, at the crack of dawn, heading back to Quibbler Headquarters. She took out a pouch full of Sickles and slapped it onto the table with disgust. "Thank you for your help, Famos." She turned on her heels and marched toward the stairs, eager to escape the stench of vomit, Firewhiskey, and sweat.

As she passed the bar, she noticed the unrelenting stare of the bartender Antiqus. The ancient and deformed man, though seemingly frail, glared at her with eyes deep with menace and…hatred. Pure hatred. Luna stumbled a bit, catching herself on a nearby table. As she looked up into Antiqus' eyes again, she was surprised to see it glazed with concern and friendliness; every remnant of the Antiqus she had seen a moment before had vanished without a trace. She smiled shakily as she made her way to the stairs, bidding him a quiet goodnight.

"Sleep well, Ms. Lovegood."

Luna stepped out from the shower feeling somewhat more refreshed and relaxed than before. She sighed contented as she dressed herself. On her way out of the bathroom, she afforded the mirror a glance.

A petite blonde female smiled innocently at her. Locks of amber hair cascaded down her back and in front of her shoulders. Startling blue eyes that could've rivaled those of Albus Dumbledore stared back. Her eyes. Her father's pride and joy. The windows into her soul, as her mother loved to say. Luna leaned forward, gazing deeply into the eyes in her reflection.

_What do I see in myself?_

_A girl._

Luna winced as she hastily stepped away from the mirror. She squeezed her eyes shut as she remembered those painful words:

_"Grow up Luna! It's time you did. We all did."_

_Oh Ron._

She felt her stomach heave and her heart churn as the familiar face conjured itself in her mind's eye. Her eyes began to burn as tears long suppressed threatened to flow.

No.

_I'm strong. Everyone always says tears are for children. And aren't you going to grow up? For him? Come now, Luna. Get a hold of yourself._

Composing herself and supporting herself with the sink, Luna straightened herself up. Her reflection had turned paler after she had closed her eyes. _I'm okay_, Luna thought brightly as she smiled to the girl, yes, girl, in the mirror.

As Luna stepped out of the bathroom, she let her mind focus on her debut article in the _Quibbler_. Absorbed in her work, she barely noticed the two cloaked strangers standing between her and her room until she bumped into them.

Looking up, she smiled politely and opened her mouth to ask for entrance into her room.

"_Stupefy!_" Both strangers muttered the spell, their voices muffled by their heavy cloaks.

Luna felt the spell hit her in her stomach twice. Then, she felt no more.


	2. Capitivity

**Hidden**  
Chapter 2 – Captivity

_I'm dead._

Luna, wide awake, laid on the grimy carpet without moving. She was aware that her eyelids were moving up and down. But why, oh why, was it still pitch black?

Luna pushed herself up from the floor and immediately groaned aloud in pain. Clutching her stomach, she groped the darkness for something to lean on. Resting her hand upon a nearby armchair, Luna balanced herself on her wobbly legs. The sudden movement surprised her mind, and instantly, Luna was back on her knees, dry-heaving and panting.

"Oh, Merlin," she moaned in pain as stars swam before her eyes. As she recovered, she noticed a light approaching from her left side.

Footsteps.

Instinctively, Luna reached behind her ear, looking vainly for her wand. _Ah yes_, she remembered. _I don't keep my wand there anymore._

_Ron._

Luna's wandering mind was suddenly brought back to the present when a scraggly figure appeared before her. A disheveled young man dressed in fine black robes made from the richest materials stood in front of Luna, tall and proud. His stringy blond hair hung limply to his abdomen, framing a stony face with chiseled, prominent chin and cheeks. In one hand, he held the dancing candle. In the other, he held a wand.

_Her wand._

Luna's eyes widened. "Hey! That's my wand!" Weakness dissipated into anger as Luna shot up and marched straight to the stranger. Embarrassed to see that she was still a head or so shorter than him, but nonetheless fired up, she stared straight into his eyes.

His eyes.

Luna was startled to see her captor's sea-grey eyes. She could see herself in his eyes, yet she knew there was something deeper, something more to this man. Through his eyes, she saw a man who has been hurt, rejected, and confused all his life.

_Like me._

Luna was surprised to hear herself think that thought. True, she'd been teased her entire life, yet it hadn't affected her much at all. But she didn't think she'd go as far as to characterize herself in the same category as this…this…

"You're the magical Muggle aren't you?" The words burst out of her before she could stop it, a habit Ron had asked her many times to break.

The man let out a hoarse, deep laugh, throwing his blond hair back as he did so. However, even as he chuckled, Luna still noticed the droop in his grin and the dull look in his eyes. "Is that what they call me nowadays?" He shook his head. "Three years ago, I went by a different name. A damned name," he added quietly.

"Who are you?" Damn her tongue.

All remains of his mirth disappeared. He cleared his throat nervously, "That's none of your business, Luna."

Luna frowned. "How do you know my name?"

The stranger glowered. "Don't ask so many questions," he snapped. "It's what got you here in the first place. Besides," he mused softly, "you'll find out soon enough.

"Here," the man's tone shifted abruptly, "is where you will be staying for as long as it takes you to do what I need you to do." Muttering a spell underneath his breath, he pointed his wand – Luna's – wand at the nearby candles, immediately lighting up the room to give it a delightful glow.

Luna looked around, observing her new quarters. For a loner in the mountains, she mused, her room was very large. The armchair she had felt earlier was paired with another matching green one. Both were placed in front of a grand fireplace that never seemed to have been used. On the far side of the room sat a huge bed, unlike any she'd seen before. It, too, had a cover of dark green with silver linings.

The colours of the Slytherins.

Luna suppressed a shiver, looking up at the ceiling for a distraction. Almost ghost-like, and adding to the haunting atmosphere, the shape of a chandelier underneath a draped piece of cloth hung from the high ceilings.

As she lowered her head, Luna's mind raced with questions, all of which she was careful not to blurt out. She felt the stranger's keen eyes watching her closely, so she turned to face him, keeping her face as calm and serene as she could.

"It could do with a bit of remodeling," she stated coolly. "I'll guess that you haven't kept this place tidy for quite some time."

The man smiled grimly. "This used to be my old bedroom. But I sleep across the hall now. You might say I'm haunted by…nightmares." For a moment, Luna detected a flash of concealed rage in this stranger's eyes. But when she blinked, it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.

The man now stared at her with raised eyebrows. "What, no questions?" he asked sarcastically.

Luna replied indifferently, "Well, considering you're holding me captive and ordering me to hold my tongue, I can't very well disobey you, can I?"

The stranger smirked. "Smart girl." He straightened his posture. "Come, it's dinnertime." With that, he turned smartly and marched out the room without glancing behind or waiting for the surprised Luna to catch up.

The man led Luna into a lovely, though sorely neglected dining room where a simple meal had already been prepared at the table, a small square that did the elegant dining room no justice.

"Shall we?" Her captor motioned to the nearest chair, indicating without a doubt where Luna was expected to sit. He himself sat across from her, placing her wand next to his chair.

Luna eyed the roasted chicken warily. True, she was hungry – no, starving – but she paid attention long enough in Potions to know of the existence of certain undetectable poisons.

"No, the food's not poisoned, Luna," the man read her thoughts exactly. "If I had wanted you dead, I wouldn't have gone through the trouble with waiting for you to wake up." When Luna still did not move, he let out an impatient sigh. "Look, I'll eat a piece just to show you." He took his fork and dug right into the food then took a large bite.

Left with no other choice, Luna hesitatingly picked up her fork and took a piece herself. I It does look mighty appetizing /I , she thought, before giving way to her stomach and shoving the piece into her mouth. Satisfied, the man, who had scrupulously watched Luna eat her first piece of chicken, resumed his meal in silence.

After Luna finished a good portion of the dishes on the table, she sat back and stretched, feeling as relaxed as she could in her state. She closed her eyes and leaned back into her chair, letting her head droop over the back of the chair. She felt his calculating eyes, and she didn't care.

"So, now that you're filled up, how about a little story telling?"

"Hmm?" Luna smiled, her eyes still closed. "All right." _Bloody hell, Luna. Too much wine_.

"Once upon a time, a great Pureblood family lived in this very same house very recently. They were happy to a certain extent, living together in peace and wealth. There was a father, a mother, and a son. What more could they possibly ask for? But the father had a terrible secret: he was a member of the Dark Lord's followers."

Luna's eyes snapped open. "A Death Eater lived here?" That would partially explain the ever-present green-and-silver theme decorating the house.

The man nodded solemnly. "A fervent Death Eater. Bent upon destroying all Muggles, Muggle-borns, and Muggle-lovers. During the rise of the Dark Lord, he never hesitated to cast Unforgivable Curses upon anyone who stood in his way. Soon, he himself rose to become one of the Dark Lord's right-hand followers.

"However, eighteen years ago, when the Dark Lord was defeated the first time by the Boy Who Lived, he adamantly protested against all accusations that he was a Dark Lord's follower, claiming that whatever harm he had done had been against his will. So he was free. Free to intimidate the sworn enemies of Death Eaters. Free to walk down the streets knowing his comrades were suffering in Azkaban. Free to press his visions of a Pureblood society upon his young son.

"And he did. He taught his son all the beliefs and ideals the Death Eaters had clung to during their Reign of Terror. And, as all children do, his son grew up and was sent to the Hogwarts school under the tutelage of Muggle-loving Albus Dumbledore. There, living under the nose of his father's lord's enemy, the boy grew up, a model of the Pureblood race. And he did everything his father told him to do: terrorize the other children, spread the principles, and above all, get Harry Potter expelled."

Luna felt the hairs on her arms rise. The wheels in her head spun wildly as she began to place a name with the face. A glance into the man's stone-grey eyes confirmed her guess.

"Unfortunately," the man plowed on, still gazing fiercely at Luna, "the boy never was able to accomplish his last task, as Dumbledore favored Potter too much. Suddenly, the boy found his father's face on the front page of the I Daily Prophet /I . The old Death Eater had been arrested and placed in Azkaban when he, along with a handful of other Death Eaters, were found in the Ministry of Magic."

Luna shivered; she remembered that day all too well.

"Thirsty for vengeance, the boy pledged his allegiance recklessly to the Dark Lord resurrected, becoming a full-fledged Death Eater like his father. However, the boy was naïve; the foundations of his beliefs had been shaky and not at all as firm as his father's. So when the Dark Lord assigned him the ultimate task, when the moment of triumphed arrived…he couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to bring down the great man whom he feared yet respected. The man who represented the dreams and hopes of the people Pureblood wizards hated."

The man sighed. "Unfortunately, though he didn't kill Albus, he stood by and allowed a fellow Death Eater do it. The boy might not have learned much from his father, but he knew his father well enough to have picked up a key trait: cowardice. That's right, the little boy ran instead of facing the hatred and wrath of the Purebloods or the Muggle-sided wizards. He had failed each and every one of them."

Luna shook her head, biting her lip with anger. "I don't want to hear anymore!" she shouted. "You killed Dumbledore! You killed Albus Dumbledore!"

For the first time since she'd arrived, the man took his piercing eyes off of her. "I might as well have," he whispered softly.

Luna shuddered, collecting herself. "Malfoy," she whispered, silently cursing her trembling voice. "What do you want with me?"

This time, Draco Malfoy, Slytherin poster boy, looked up with hardened eyes, "You will tell the world my story and my apology."

Oh Merlin, what had she gotten herself into?


	3. Changes

**Hidden**  
Chapter 3 - Changes

  
"It's impossible," Luna heard herself say, "My father will wonder where I am. He'll come after me."

Draco waved a hand of dismissal. "My men have taken care of it. He'll be expecting the story on the 'magical Muggle' shortly."

Luna stared at him calmly. "Your men?" Thinking back to the pub, Luna remembered. "Antiqus. He's a-"

"No," Draco interrupted sharply, saving Luna from uttering the forbidden words. "He's only a loyal servant to my father." He raised an eyebrow in amusement. "You really think the Ministry would've let him live if he was?"

Oh yes. Percy Wesley, the new Minister of Magic, was fond of the Blood Hunt, a politically sanctioned dead-or-alive manhunt targeting every Death Eater left. Of course the Minister preferred the less aggressing term Sweeping. And Luna had to admit grudgingly it was a form of cleaning...and a messy one at that. Luna remembered the decree issued a year ago. _'All individuals bearing the Dark Mark of Voldemort will be given a life sentence at Azkaban Prison.'_ Luna knew it was only an attempt to gain back the power over the wizarding community after the Last Battle the year before. 

Paranoia had swept all over the world. Thousands had been brought to trial, accused of being a Voldemort supporter. The Ministry, to save manpower (and Galleons), then issued the declaration. They also set about to pass laws in order to gain control of the fear that still permeated the atmosphere. "Voldemort" was the only correct name of the 'traitor, instigator, and vile threat to all life.' Anyone who called him by any other name to mark reverence was tried as a Death Eater.

'Death Eater,' too, became an unlawful term for creatures who worshiped Voldemort. Soon a different panic rocked the wizards as hundreds of thousands of individuals (most of whom were innocent) were accused of being Death Eaters. Azkaban became overcrowded, and escapes from the infamous prison became all too common.

So quietly, the Ministry began to kill any and all individuals bearing the green snake on his forearm. Many desperate Death Eaters had tried countless ways to remove the Mark, yet none were able to succeed. Soon the _Daily Prophet_ had stopped naming the discovered Death Eaters and had moved on to more appropriate subjects, yet the deaths always hung in the air.

At the beginning, Luna and Ron had spent a good deal of their mornings scanning the names of dead Death Eaters: _Snape, S., Rosier, E., Malfoy, N., Malfoy, L., Lestrange, R._ The list went on and on. 

Of course, the Death Eaters that went out with a bang, so to speak, were given a page of their own in the _Daily Prophet_. Rosier had taken out three Aurors when discovered in the streets. Lucius Malfoy, in a crazed frenzy, had attacked the Boy who Lived and his wife Hermione in their London home. His wife Narcissa had tried to use her body to shield him from the green lights shot from Auror wands. Severus Snape was found in a drunken stupor in the old Black mansion, former headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

"I've tried all that I could to get rid of this…_damn Mark_." Draco pulled up his robe sleeves to reveal the vile green snake burned into his pallid skin. "When the Ministry issued the order, I even tried to cut off my own arm." Draco lifted his sleeves even more to reveal a ragged band just above his elbow. "It is only a matter of time before the frenzy reaches this side of England," Draco dropped his sleeves abruptly, snapping Luna's attention back on him. "And it is time we have to race against."

Luna gazed at Draco curiously. "Do you really think any article I write would save your life? Do you believe the Ministry would listen to anything I have to say?" She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "This is my first big article, and my father is — sorry, was — expecting a story on-"

"The Ministry is on a rampant mission to wipe all of us out," Draco interrupted. His eyes dimmed with suppressed frustration. "Some of us have truly reformed. Most of us weren't even true Death Eaters to begin with. Rodolphus always followed Bellatrix. When she died, he had taken the initiative to buy land in Sydney to run a pet store." Draco glared at Luna. "Did you know that?"

Luna did not reply. She'd been in the journalism business too long to know that sympathy stories toward Death Eaters was an unspoken taboo.

Draco shook his head, "I'm only trying to set things right. That damned Weasley has gotten his priorities in a mess. To him, this Blood Hunt is merely revenge on all Death Eaters, on all who made his family's life miserable. He doesn't listen to anything anyone has got to say, blaming the chaos and fear on the fact that _former_ Death Eaters still walk freely." He smirked coldly at Luna. "He only listens to his brother. Ronald. If my sources were correct, he was your husband for a time, wasn't he?"

Luna stood up, quivering with silent rage. "That's enough, Draco. You don't know what you're talking about."

Draco gave a short bark of laughter. "Oh Luna. You're still the naïve little thing you were in school, aren't you?"

"No," the ferocity in her voice surprised both, "You're not the only one who changed." And with that, Luna turned on her heels and marched back to her room. 


End file.
